Twelve Moons - Fresh Blood
by Auburnblaze237
Summary: Stars can only be seen in darkness, and every moon brings another death. Twelve moons. Twelve deaths. One chance. The forest is hunted by a dark being that threatens to attack at any time. For every day the cats of the four Clans live, they are wasting their time. The fate of the entire forest rests in the paws of twelve cats. But will they be found in time, or will it all fade?


No moon shown down on the barren wind-blown moor. Three cats, two toms and a she-cat, padded slowly down the slope. Their pelts prickled with fear of the unknown as they continued on through the pitch-black night.

One of the toms, a dark gray tabby with glowing yellow eyes, abruptly stopped, looking around wildly. The other tom whose pelt was as bright as the sun whirled around to glare at him, baring his teeth. The two toms said nothing to each other but continued to stare at each other with hostile eyes. The she-cat stepped in between them and glared at the golden tom.

"What are you doing, Goldenstar?" she hissed. "We promised StarClan we wouldn't fight, and we aren't about to break that promise by fighting over nothing."

"It's that mouse-brain's fault!" Goldenstar growled defensively, pointing with his tail to the gray tom. "If he hadn't stopped, we wouldn't be talking now. We're wasting moonlight by arguing."

"What moonlight?" the gray tom meowed angrily. "I can barely see a tail-length in front of my face, and it's not my fault! It feels like we're being watched."

Goldenstar sniffed, but said nothing else. The she-cat turned to the gray tom. "What's wrong, Rainstar?" she asked nicely. "I know that it feels like that, and we probably are being watched, but we have to continue on, or StarClan will be angry."

"You were always soft, Duststar," Goldenstar hissed. "Why don't you stop believing in dead cats and get a move on?" He spun around and took a step forward, but stopped when no one followed. "Now what?"

Duststar flicked her cream tail. "You just don't get it, do you Goldenstar?"

Goldenstar sat, extending his claws. "Enlighten me." He said sarcastically.

"You've never believed in StarClan, not even when you made your warrior promise!" Rainstar said. "You were a rogue before you joined the Clans, and by joining you made a commitment to become leader."

"StarClan is just a bunch of dead cats who speak with live ones!" Goldenstar yowled with a lash of his tail. "That doesn't seem healthy, now does it?"

Duststar's brown pelt bristled with shock. "How dare you say that? StarClan are not just dead cats! They are our ancestors! Why do you think they came to you when you were made leader?"

"Those were _my _ancestors, not those dumb Clan cats you believe in!" Goldenstar leaped to his paws.

"Those were StarClan cats!" Duststar growled. "I was there! No other cats could have given you nine lives!"

"Can we just stop?" Rainstar interjected, but the quarreling cats didn't seem to hear him.

"StarClan are every cat's ancestors," Duststar continued. "You can't get nine lives by rogues. Only StarClan give us nine lives, and you cannot disrespect the cats who gave them to you! The nine cats you saw were StarClan!"

"And how do you know?" Goldenstar challenged. "You said you were there. Were you spying on me?"

"No!" Duststar extended a paw to swipe across Goldenstar's ears. "I died before you, idiot! And that's another thing! When you died, you went to _StarClan_!" Duststar huffed in frustration. "Why did you even join ShadowClan if all you did was disrespect the warrior code?"

"I don't need to believe in your boring code to be a cat!" Goldenstar returned the hit, this time with his claws out. Duststar let out a screech as a bead of blood dripped onto the ground, but held her ground.

"You do if you want to be a Clan cat!" Duststar lifted another paw to scratch Goldenstar, but before she could do anything Rainstar stepped between them.

"Just stop!" he yowled. "StarClan are angry with us!" the tabby tom flicked his tail towards the trees. They were being blown by a vicious wind that had risen up while they were arguing. "If you two don't stop, then we won't be able to complete our mission, and the prophecy will not be fulfilled!"

"That prophecy doesn't make a lick of sense!" Goldenstar said. "_Every moon brings another death. _What is that supposed to mean?"

"That's what we're trying to find out!" Duststar's cream paw flashed out again, but this time Goldenstar dodged, barely missing her outstretched claws.

Suddenly lightning struck from the sky and hit the earth just in front of the cats. They all leaped back with hisses of fright. The lightning illuminated the ground ahead of them, revealing a dark red cat with a snarl on his face.

"_Stars can only be seen in darkness, and every moon brings another death. Twelve moons. Twelve deaths. One chance." _The cat said before fading away with the lightning.

The three cats stood in shocked silence. Goldenstar and Duststar exchanged a glance, all hostility forgotten. Rainstar's pelt stood on end and his ears were pricked for any sign of danger. Nothing made a sound, not even the wind, which had stopped when the lightning struck.

Rainstar was the first cat to break the silence. "One chance…" he trailed off.

"There are twelve moons every four seasons," Duststar said. Her green eyes reflected in the darkness, though there was no light to shine on them. "There are around four or five Gatherings every season. That means that every Gathering there will be another death."

"And only one chance for what?" Goldenstar added in, his voice filled with fear that even he could not hide.

Duststar shook her head. "I do not know," she looked up at the dark sky. "But StarClan have sent us this prophecy twice now. It must be important."

Rainstar shuddered. "Will this be the end of the Clans?"

"Only StarClan knows."

"But we are StarClan, aren't we?" Goldenstar asked angrily. "Shouldn't we know as well?"

Duststar shrugged. "I suppose only specific cats can know," she responded. "Or we are not the right ones to know." She blinked up at her ancestors in fear, and muttered so only she could hear, "Please StarClan, do not let this be the end. We are the Warriors of the forest. Do not let it end so soon."


End file.
